Dodge Tomahawk: World's Fastest Bike

At the 2003 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, Dodge unveiled a vehicle with an unusual design, featuring the 500 hp (373 kW) @ 5600 rpm, 8.3 L V10 engine from the Dodge Viper. 10-cylinder 90-degree V-type, liquid-cooled, 505 in³ (8275 cc). The vehicle has two front wheels and two rear wheels, making it a kind of motorized quadricycle rather than a typical motorcycle. Though it has four wheels, to associate the Tomahawk with a quad-type vehicle is not entirely accurate; quad-type vehicles have more in common with the automobile. They turn like an automobile, while the Tomahawk turns by leaning. According to the official specs 0-60 mph times have been estimated at 2.5 seconds, with an estimated top speed of 350 mph. But there are also reports that the top speed is 676 km/h (about 420 mph). While the Tomahawk is not street-legal, it could, theoretically, be ridden.

For more inforamtion read: Dodge Tomahawk review

Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Machine - How It Works

What is the LHC?

The LHC is physically located in a circular 27km (16.5m) long tunnel under the Swiss/French border outside Geneva, but as an international project the LHC crosses continents and many international borders. It's exactly what its name suggests - a large collider of hadrons. Strictly, LHC refers to the collider; a machine that deserves to be labelled ‘large’, it not only weighs more than 38,000 tonnes, but runs for 27km (16.5m) in a circular tunnel 100 metres beneath the Swiss/French border at Geneva. However, the collider is only one of three essential parts of the LHC project. The other two are:

- the detectors, which sit in 4 huge chambers at points around the LHC tunnel.
- the GRID, which is a global network of computers and software essential to processing the data recorded by LHC’s detectors.

The LHC’s 27km loop in a sense encircles the globe, because the LHC project is supported by an enormous international community of scientists and engineers. Working in multinational teams, at CERN and around the world, they are building and testing LHC equipment and software, participating in experiments and analysing data. The UK has a major role in leading the project and has scientists and engineers working on all the main experiments.

What will the LHC do?

The LHC will allow scientists to probe deeper into the heart of matter and further back in time than has been possible using previous colliders. Researchers think that the Universe originated in the Big Bang (an unimaginably violent explosion) and since then the Universe has been cooling down and becoming less energetic. Very early in the cooling process the matter and forces that make up our world ‘condensed’ out of this ball of energy. The LHC will produce tiny patches of very high energy by colliding together atomic particles that are travelling at very high speed. The more energy produced in the collisions the further back we can look towards the very high energies that existed early in the evolution of the Universe. Collisions in the LHC will have up to 7x the energy of those produced in previous machines; recreating energies and conditions that existed billionths of a second after the start of the Big Bang. The results from the LHC are not completely predictable as the experiments are testing ideas that are at the frontiers of our knowledge and understanding. Researchers expect to confirm predictions made on the basis of what we know from previous experiments and theories. However, part of the excitement of the LHC project is that it may uncover new facts about matter and the origins of the Universe. One of the most interesting theories the LHC will test was put forward by the UK physicist Professor Peter Higgs and others. The different types of fundamental particle that make up matter have very different masses, while the particles that make up light (photons) have no mass at all. Peter’s theory is one explanation of why this is so and the LHC will allow us to test the theory.

How does the LHC work?

The LHC accelerates two beams of atomic particles in opposite directions around the 27km collider. When the particle beams reach their maximum speed the LHC allows them to ‘collide’ at 4 points on their circular journey. Thousands of new particles are produced when particles collide and detectors, placed around the collision points, allow scientists to identify these new particles by tracking their behaviour. The detectors are able to follow the millions of collisions and new particles produced every second and identify the distinctive behaviour of interesting new particles from among the many thousands that are of little interest. As the energy produced in the collisions increases researchers are able to peer deeper into the fundamental structure of the Universe and further back in its history. In these extreme conditions unknown atomic particles may appear.

Who benefits?

There are two types of benefit that the LHC project produces for the UK. The less easily measured benefits are:

- new understanding of the physical world,
- training of world class scientists and engineers,
- maintenance of a vibrant, world class UK research base and,
- a leading role in a major international project.

More easily appreciated are the knowledge, expertise and technology that is spun off from the LHC and can be directly applied to development of new medical, industrial and consumer technologies (more...)
The science of the LHC is far removed from everyday life, but the fact that the science is so extreme constantly pushes the boundaries of existing technical and engineering solutions. Simply building the LHC has generated new technology.
The LHC is not primarily about building a better world. Rather, it allows us to test theories and ideas about how the Universe works, its origins and evolution. The questions asked, and answers found, are so fundamental that the information from LHC experiments will only be applied many years in the future, if at all. However, this is an experiment and one of the surprises from the experiment may be new science that can be applied almost immediately.

Some interesting links:

- LHC uk
- Cern homepage
- Lhc Machine Outreach

The most frightening roller coaster in the world

Kingda Ka is a roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey, USA. At its opening on May 21, 2005, it became the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. The train is launched by a hydraulic launch mechanism to 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds. At the end of the launch track, the train climbs the main top hat tower reaching a height of 456 feet (139.5 m). Due to aviation safety concerns, the tower is equipped with three dual strobes: 2 mid-way up, and one on the top.

For more information: www.sixflags.com

Tallest vertical drop, fun ride!

The Giant Drop at Dreamworld, Queensland, Australia, drops from a height of 119 m (390 ft), giving riders five seconds of free fall time before being brought to a halt by electromagnetic brakes.

Typhoon: biggest nuclear-powered submarine

The Typhoon class submarine is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. With a maximum displacement of 26,000 tonnes, Typhoons are the largest class of submarine ever built. A Typhoon class submarine can stay submerged for periods up to 180 days in normal conditions, and potentially more if necessity arises.

Worlds fastest Train: 574.8 km/h

The french TGV (train à grande vitesse, High speed train) sets a new conventional rail record, with a speed of 574.8 kmh. The record was established on April 3,2007, surpassing the previous record of 1990 (515.3kmh). The train is a special tgv, named "V150" (for 150 met/sec, ca. 540kmh)with a souded-up engine (25,000hp, like two F1 starting grids), and larger wheels.